


D'you Promise?

by Montyvv056



Category: Stranger Things (TV 2016)
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-24
Updated: 2019-10-24
Packaged: 2021-01-02 16:36:40
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,979
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21164747
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Montyvv056/pseuds/Montyvv056
Summary: Billy was an asshole, and, like everyone who saw him thought, very hot.This deals with the end of Season 3, so SPOILERS!!!





	D'you Promise?

You had known of Billy for a long time before you met him. You knew he was a qualified asshole on so many levels, and you knew he had a face that could kill. Yes, you knew he was a right dinger. But never, ever in your whole high-school career would you have expected he was soft. 

“Billy Hargrove?” The mullet-clad figure continued to coo at the small cat.

“Billy Hargrove?” You asked louder, gaining confidence.

A startled “oomph” was heard, and the mullet that now definitely belonged to Billy turned to look at you. His loud reaction had startled the kitten, which had hid beneath some rubbish and was now meowing in indignance. Turning to face you, his bad-boy facade was back up. A smirk grew on his features as he looked you up and down, winking in a manner that could only be described as seductive. 

“That’s my name, doll, don’t wear it out. You new here?” You were not, in fact, new to the school. What you were was surprised that Billy Hargrove had emotions. Teasing him seemed fun, but the day had already been long enough and you wanted an immediate reaction. 

“I didn’t know you like cats, Hargrove. Never would have thought you were the type. Guess everyone was mistaken about your would-be reputation?” At that, his smile fled from his face, leaving a scared gleam in his eyes.

“Don’t tell anyone, or I swear I’ll -”

“You’ll what Hargrove? Ask nicely if you want this whole… interaction to remain a secret. I’ll consider not revealing this soft side of you if I get a proper ‘please’.” You were playing a dangerous game now. His reputation told you that he never apologised to anyone, whether or not he was wrong. The whole of Hawkins High School knew that getting on the bad side of Billy Hargrove meant, best-case scenario, a black eye and a split lip. Treading on eggshells, you continued.

“And, after today, you had better remember that I know what you do when no-one sees you. I want you to respect me, properly. Alright, Hargrove?”

When silence ensued, you wondered whether you had crossed the line. A moment later, though, a slight nod signalled his understanding of your terms. That day, both of you left the scene with a feeling of innate satisfaction.

Weeks passed. The summer holidays neared, bringing with them hot days and lucid humidity. Billy Hargrove had not changed, keeping his bad-boy persona ever-present. He had not changed, unless it concerned you. 

Opening your locker on the last day of school, a break-out of whispers signalled Billy’s arrival. Instead of heading to Tommy H and Carol like he used to do so many weeks ago, he beelined for your locker and you. He had done this every morning, a habit that had grown and developed since your encounter. At first, he had only done it in order to check if you had told anyone. Over time though, he enjoyed the teasing banter you weren’t scared to exchange with him. You, in the minority, were not afraid to talk to Billy. You had called him out on any of his bullshit more times than could be counted by the school population. In some strange sense of the word, you two had become friends. Albeit weird and, in some ways crazy, you two were thick as thieves and often hung out together during lunch breaks or after school. 

“Hey, doll.” You found yourself looking into his eyes again. This had become a regular occurrence after you had realized how lovely they were. Deep and blue, the seas and oceans could only dream of being as clear. 

“Hey, Hargrove. What are you doing later?” For some reason, the light question filled you with hoards of ridiculous butterflies. Though still in denial, you knew that those butterflies were caused by more than just an excitement for the proximity of summer holidays. 

“I’m free, are you up for some ice-cream? Y’know doll, the new mall is supposed to open later today, we can go?” A shy smile spread on his face, and his eyes lit up at the prospect of spending the first day of summer break with you. And, though you didn’t know it, he had his own entourage of flittering butterflies speeding around his tummy, wreaking havoc. Though he would never admit it, he had enjoyed his conversations with you and was tremendously happy when you had called him your friend. You were unlike him in so many ways, yet you understood him better than anyone would have anticipated.

Hours later, you and Billy rushed out of school. He was too busy watching you to pay attention to Tommy and Carol, who were bragging about what they were going to do now. Blasting music, you danced around on the grass in front of them. When a particularly intense guitar solo came up, you dropped to the ground dramatically playing air-guitar. This caused an amused chuckle to arise in Billy, though he shoved it down while in front of his so-called friends. 

“Hey doll, you ready?” You bounded over to his baby-blue Camaro, prancing over to the car seat and buckling yourself in. When he smiled at your enthusiasm, you laughingly told him to hurry up. 

When you arrived at the mall, the first thing you noticed were the voluminous crowds of people. While Billy and you had lip-synced to Billy Idol and giggled endlessly on the way down, now that you two were at the shopping centre you knew he would change. 

Going first to the ‘Scoops Ahoy!’ section of the Food Court, the both of you picked your desserts and sat down to talk. Billy came up with the idea to play a round of ‘20 questions’, and started with the generic “Do you like anyone?”, alongside his signature smirk. Not in the mood to admit that you liked him, you said no. Though you knew it was wishful thinking, you thought that his smirk faltered slightly, and that some sort of sadness flickered in his eyes.

Then, 18 questions later, you gained the stupid courage to ask him that question.

“Do you like anyone, Hargrove?” 

Then, hoping to seem as though the answer to the question wouldn’t affect you as much as you knew it would, you added,

“Though I guess it’s hard to catch feelings when you jump from girl to girl!” There was a crazed fake-enthusiasm at the end of your sentence. You knew that the sentence, had it been written, would have included an exclamation mark.

For some reason, Billy started leaning in. Thinking that who he liked was a secret, you leaned in too. You met in the middle, lips meeting in a sweet, soft, chaste kiss. A sweet, soft, chaste kiss that was so uncharacteristic of Billy it made you gasp. 

Eventually, Billy broke away with the real and genuine smile that he rarely wore. He seemed cool and collected, albeit a little flushed at the suddenly gone touch. You, on the other hand, were ecstatic and holding back from breaking into a toothy grin that, no doubt, would have changed your whole face.

“You. I’ve liked you ever since the day we started talking, actually talking at your locker. Since the day you told me to screw off if I was going to continue checking if you told anyone, every single morning.”

You were undeniably touched by his words, and ashamed that you had done nothing to show him that you also liked him.

“Can I ask you on a date, or do you have to do that?” The question was playful, but filled with uncertainty from your side.

“Sunday, at 7pm? I’ll pick you up, doll. Don’t dress too nice, unless you want to. If you want to dress nice, let me know. Or don’t, if you don’t want to. Whatever you like. Or not. I’m sorry.” Giggling, you agreed to the date after telling Billy how adorable he was when he was nervous.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

It was nearing the fourth of July, and Billy had been AWOL for a few days. He hadn’t been going to the pool, and rumour had it that he was dating fellow lifeguard Heather Whatever-her-last-name-was. Since you and Billy had kept your relationship private for the most part, the rumours were no surprise. You hadn’t thought they meant anything, until you knew they did. 

You were driving past a quiet neighbourhood, rocking out to some new Queen tracks when you spotted them. Or more precisely, him. There he was, sitting at a table eating dinner with parents. He had never agreed to meet your parents for the simple reason that ‘he was not a meet-the-parents kind of guy’, yet there he was. Then a girl, about the same age as you, came into the room and sat beside him. With a quick kiss right on the smacker, you knew that she was no family member. Deciding that a confrontation was not what he needed at that moment, you resolved that you would visit him another day and question him.

Unfortunately, you never got the chance. Billy was away when you went to see him the next day and the day after, and Mr. Hargrove blamed you both times. Slut-shamed and disgraced, you turned to walk away. Only to bump into Billy on your way to your car. With a cordial “hey,” and a quickly falling easy grin, Billy stood right in front of you. 

“Where have you been, Billy? I’ve looked for you everywhere, and then I saw you at some other girl’s house, and then she kissed you, and I wanted to talk to you about her, about it, but I couldn’t find you, then Mr. Hargrove called me a slut and - Billy? Are you even listening?” Throughout your lengthy confession, Billy’s eyes had changed multiple times. Where once a fire would have burned at the reveal that you had been disgraced, now a lulled spark all but shone. 

“Look, I don’t know who you are, chances are you’re drunk and have me confused with someone, ‘cause I’ve never seen you in my life. Since you’re so interested, you bitch, I’ve been busy, alright? Who the hell are you to tell me what I can and can’t do? I don’t care if you saw me, I was with my girlfriend, alright? I was having dinner with her parents, okay Mom? So fuck off.” 

His words stung, to say the least. Who were you? Nobody, apparently. He had gotten mad before, and you had caught him with girls before when he was angry at you, but there had never been anything like this. Usualy, when you found him, or he found you, he apologized profusely. You did too, for making him feel like he couldn’t come to you. You apologized for his upbringing, and then Billy would interrupt and tell you to stop, that none of it was your fault. This - the whole situation was different now. And it wasn’t just about the whole “meeting the parents” thing. He had never dismissed you like that, ever. Even when he screwed up, big time, he was there to plead with you in his own way. There was always a sorry kiss and hands asking for forgiveness when he came to apologise. And soon enough, both of you were laughing, teasing, playing.

But now… You had to try again. Talk to him, find out what was going on. You would have gone to see Robin Buckley, your best friend ‘once upon a time’, but you two hadn’t spoken since you and Billy had started dating. Steve Harrington had changed for the better recently, but you two had never been close. Tommy and Carol were dumbasses of the highest order, and cared for nothing other than their on-again-off-again relationship, and all the benefits included. Nancy Wheeler, the girl who used to date Steve, was a prissy princess who you would never associate yourself with. And although most people had grown to accept Nancy’s new fling, Jonathan Byers, you weren’t so dazzled by him. Other than them, you knew no one well enough to tell them what was going on with Billy. No one except Maxine Hargrove, Billy’s younger sister. 

A few days later, you were at that dreaded door again, ringing the doorbell.

“Hello again, Mr. Hargrove, is Max in? I’d like to talk to her about some school work.” Once more you found yourself pleading your case in front of the man with a fuse shorter than a stick of dynamite. 

“Dunno where Max is. Hasn’t been home in a while. Before you ask where that whore Billy is, I don’t know either.” The raw spite and hate in his voice sent chills down your spine. You knew he hated the kids, both of them, but if you could just talk to Susan and explain, she would listen or try to help. 

“Thank you Mr. Hargrove, is Susan home? I need to talk to her about something important.” If you knew Mr. Hargrove, and you did, he was going to pester you about what this “important thing” was until you told him. 

“It’s Mrs. Hargrove to you, whatever your name is again, and she isn’t home right now. What do you even want to talk to her about? I’ll take a message, and decide if it’s actually important.” There was no hope now of getting help easily, so you had to look for Max. And Billy.

A few days later, you sat in the cinema, alone. Currently, you were working up the courage to talk to Robin, who was sitting a few aisles in front of you, because you had had no luck in finding Max. When you saw Robin duck into ‘Back to the Future’ alongside Steve Harrington, Dustin Henderson, and some other young girl, you had followed. Your idea had been to stop her when she was coming out of the cinema, and tell her what was going on with you and Billy. Now, you weren’t so sure that she would want to hear. She was giggling at something Steve had said, and he was gesturing wildly at something on the screen. 

You followed the crowd of people exiting the cinema, and tried to catch up to Steve, Robin, Dustin and the girl. They were, for some reason, breaking away from the crowd and being chased by a large group of men. 

“Robin!” You called, trying to get her to notice you.

“Robin!” 

“Y/N?” Steve sounded surprised, and you noticed bruises bursting out over his face. His cheek was covered in cuts, and blood was smeared on his uniform. 

“Steve? What happ-“ The question was cut short by a bullet whizzing past you. You jumped, and slid down the escalator behind Dustin. Running towards Robin, you all but screamed “what is going on?”. She, in turn, exchanged a look with Steve and Dustin while the five of you ducked behind a counter. 

Silence ensued. A clock ticked, and footsteps echoed. You tried to hold your breath, and a quick burst of Russian startled you. Russians in Starcourt? Robin grabbed your hand, and you looked at her to check if she was alright. She was terrified. Her eyes were open wide, and she was quaking. You had no doubt that she had gone through more in the past few hours than you had gone through in your life. Wanting to comfort her, you squeezed her hand and rubbed circles on the back of it with your thumb.

The Russians came closer and closer, their footsteps growing louder. Footsteps suddenly stopping, one of the men suddenly came flying over the counter. Peeking over the top, you saw Mike Wheeler, Lucas Sinclair, Will Byers, Jonathan Byers, Nancy Wheeler, another unknown girl, and, speaking of the devil, Max Hargrove. 

“Max?”

“Y/N?”

“El?” Before the girl, who you assumed was El, could answer, she fainted. 

A few minutes later, everyone was gathered around her, and Mike was waking her up. Due to the fact that there was something moving within El’s leg, Jonathan had decided to get it out. This included heating up a knife and shitty plastic gloves. 

It was obvious that she was in pain, and Jonathan’s hand inside her leg didn’t help. 

“Look at me, El,” you said, using the name everyone called her by, “Hold my hand, alright? Squeeze it as hard as you need to, okay? I got you.” And she did. Grasping your hand in a bone-crunching hold, she let out a scream.

“I’ll do it myself.” You had to admire her resolve. El was, seemingly with her mind, pulling out a blob of flesh. Bits of bone sticking out of it, the thing somehow screeched loudly. El flung it across the floor and it began to skitter away. Only to be crushed beneath the clunking boot of Chief Jim Hopper. 

“Chief Hopper?” Instead of answering you, he rushed over to El. You took that as your cue to go over to Robin, who was busy talking to Steve. 

“Hey Robin, what’s going on? Why did a girl with telekinesis bust up some Commies? Why the hell did some… thing come out of her damn leg? What is going on?” The young girl who, up until this point, had been talking to Lucas sidled up to you.

“I’m Erica,” she said, “I’ll explain.” And she did. She told you everything Dustin had told her. You learned about El, and what had gone on when Will Byers disappeared. She told you about Halloween and the outage at the Laboratory in the forest. Then, she told you about the Russians who, apparently, were running Starcourt. At this point, Lucas jumped in to say that Billy was possessed by the Mind Flayer. Billy had created an army of ‘Flayed’ who had somehow created this meaty version of the not-defeated Mind Flayer. 

“Shit, dude. All this happened, and the town has no idea. Holy shit, dude. Holy shit.”

“So, Y/N, what are you doing here?” It was an innocent question, but it reminded you of all that had happened with Billy. You had been told the truth, though, so you figured your truth was what they deserved as well. 

When you had finished telling them all that the past few days had encompassed for you, Nancy gave you a brief hug. The hug was an unexpected courtesy, mostly because you and Nancy had never been friends. You now regretted ever calling her a prissy. princess, and decided she was actually kind of badass. You realized then that things had changed, and now you knew about this gigantic government cover-up. 

“So. What do we do now?” 

A rough plan had spawned from ideas being thrown around, and it was decided that everyone was to split up. There would be three groups, The Scoops Troop, Griswold’s Family, and Eagle’s Nest. You were placed in Griswold’s Family, since Max knew you the best, as of recent times. 

While rushing to the car, your group had found Billy revving his engine. He was perfectly positioned to drive right into your groups’ get-away car, essentially trapping you in the mall. 

“Can I go talk to Billy, maybe I can reason with him. Or, I don’t know, calm him down?” At that, Max and Mike exchanged a look. Lucas had told you about what happened to Billy, but your insolent stubbornness told you that you could change him. You were dead sure, and still hurt that Billy left with some lifeguard. 

“There’s nothing you can do, he’s different. I - I tried to talk to him, I really did Y/N. Nothing worked. I - I’m sorry.” Max truly did look sorry, and Mike had a sympathetic glint in his eye. Just as you were about to console Max, as you were sure she was sad as well, Nancy interrupted. 

“Look!” A shattering of glass and an ear-splitting growl signalled the arrival of the Mind Flayer, in the flesh. Running away and hiding beneath a bar with Mike, El and Max, you waited until it turned away and told them to run to ’The Gap’. Quickly following them, you accidentally knocked over a clothing rack. This alerted the monster of your presence in the shop, and it turned all of its attention to the El, you, Mike, and Max. 

A sharp pop sounded outside the shop, and the four of you took the opportunity to run away, without questioning what it was. Up stairs, down stairs, and out the door, all of you ran. After a loud crash, Billy began to chase El, and she limped away as quickly as she could. You ran through an open gate, into what looked to be a delivery port. At the last second, you turned and slammed the button that would close the gate. Billy, however, caught the damned gate before it closed fully, and forced it open. 

“Billy! Stop! Don’t do this, please?” Turning to the kids, you told them to run. Grabbing Mike by the arm before he turned away completely, you told him to look after El and Max.

“And Mike, watch yourself, okay? I’m going to try and slow Billy down, but if push comes to shove, get yourselves out of here. You hear me? If you can save Billy, do that. He loves Max, though he mightn’t admit it. I don’t care if I survive, and neither should you. Billy and Max need to get out of here, they can do better. They have to. With or without me.” Mike nodded his understanding. Loosening your grip on his arm, he turned and ran towards where Max was supporting a still-limping El. 

You now faced Billy completely. There was pure anger written all over him, from his brisk gait all to the lines on his face. You knew there was no stopping him, in this rage. When he used to get like this, way before you became… involved, there was no way to calm him down. Except…

“Hey, Bill, I want you to understand that though the touch of your hand makes my pulse react, it’s only the thrill of a boy meeting a girl. It’s opposites attract, physical, logical, ignore that it means any more than that. What did love have to do with it? It’s only a second-hand emotion, so what’s it got to do with us, Billy?” It was one of your favourite songs, and with your constant play of it, Billy had come to love it too. It grew to become an anthem of his before you two got into a relationship. And afterwards, it was quick to calm him down if he got mad. It was now your only hope, and you were wishing on every star that it would help you break through to Billy, even now. 

“It may seem that I’m acting confused when you’re close to me. If I tend to look dazed, I’ve read it someplace, I’ve got cause to be. But, Billy, There’s a name for it, a phrase that fits, and for whatever reason you, you, do it for me. But what’s love got to do with it?” Blinking back tears, your throat began to close up. He hadn’t changed in terms of his demeanour, but something in his eye flickered softly. 

“I was taking on a new direction, but I have to say. Billy, Billy, I’ve -“ Tears were flowing freely now, and your throat constricted painfully at the hope that each word would get through to him. That he would sing too. That he would hear you, really hear you. 

Instead of hearing you, he pinned you roughly against a wall by your wrists. The sharp concrete dug into your back and arms, but you sung on. 

“I’ve been thinking about my own protection. It scares me to feel this way, but what’s love got to do with it?” This line, it was Billy’s favourite. As you began singing again, you slowly lost hope of him ever snapping out of this possession. You sang on.

“What’s love but a second emotion, a sweet old-fashioned notion? Who needs a heart, when a heart can be broken?” His gruff voice interrupted you. Prayers answered, you looked up to smile through the painful tears trailing down your cheeks. He was back, at least for the time being. He quickly let go of your wrists, and they dropped to your sides like boulders. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

You quickly cupped his cheeks, rubbing calming circles on them with your thumbs. Tracing his jawline with your fingers, you could feel the tensing of his muscles. It was almost as though he was still afraid he would hurt you. 

“Billy… I-“ He stopped you before you could say anything. 

“I’m - He’s after the girl. Eleven. You need to get her out of here. I’m so, so sorry, doll. I just, I don’t know, I can’t control it. But listen, I need you to get Eleven, get Max, and get the fuck out of here. It knows who you are. What you are, to me. Please, go, before he comes back.” It was obvious that he was serious, based on the tears that were slowly spilling out over his cheeks. You couldn’t help but feel your heart shatter quietly within your chest, but you knew he was right. If the Mind Flayer wanted El, he was sure as hell not going to get her. 

Nodding your head, you asked “but what about you? You better come back, Billy.” All the while not wanting to hear the answer that Billy would provide, you waited for his husky voice to confirm your fears. 

And just as he opened his mouth to answer, something happened in his eyes. They changed, going from a soft, icy blue to a dull grey, all in a matter of seconds. You knew he was going, and so did he. Quickly wrapping your hand around his, you repeated the words that forever echoed in your head when he was near.

“I love you, you asshole. I love you, so, so much. I love you. I love you, I love you. I love you, Billy Hargrove.” Tears poured freely from Billy’s eyes even as the Flayer continued to renew his hold on Billy’s mind. 

“You promise?” Billy’s voice, becoming slighter by the second, questioned. Before all this Mind Flayer business, Billy had teasingly asked you “promise?” every time you said you loved him. Now, it was a timid question. It was as though he was asking “even after all I’ve done, after all He’s made me do, do you still love me? You still don’t know all I’ve done. You’d run away if you did. Do you still love me?” 

Transformation complete, the Flayer was now the only one present in Billy’s eyes. He looked down at where your hands were still connected, to where you were still subconsciously rubbing circles on his wrist. His other hand came up and gripped your throat, but his focus remained on the place in which your hand was connected to his. No longer Billy, he squeezed your throat harder, and harder. 

“I do, Billy.” As everything went black and you slipped in and out of consciousness, you said the words like a damn mantra. You felt numb, your senses felt numbed, and all you could feel was something digging into the palm of your hand. The palm of the hand that was holding Billy only moments ago. It seemed that the Mind Flayer pulled back Billy’s hand during one of the moments in which you were unconscious. There was something in your hand, but you felt so drained, so light, you couldn’t check to see what it was.

You woke up with a throbbing in your head, lying in a pristine white room. Fluorescent hospital lights glared down angrily at you. 

“You’re awake!” A girl’s voice rang out, bouncing across the walls of the room. Her red hair looked like fire in the blinding light, and it glowed as she ran over to you. You tried to lift up your arms to greet Max, but found it hard to do so. Looking down, you realized you were in a bed, liquid-filled tubes hooked into your arms. 

When Max reached you, she threw her arms around your middle. You leaned into her, hoping it would comfort her as much as a hug. It took a few seconds for you to realize that the rapidly-growing wet spot on the hospital nightgown was caused by your tears, and it took even longer to realize that you were not the only one crying. 

“Hey Max, what’s up? Hey, look at me,” a sudden sense of urgency grasped at your chest “did we stop Him? The Flayer? Did Joyce and Chief Hopper close it?” Max glanced up at you, and you quickly began to fear the worst had happened. Seeing the worry wrinkling your brows, Max reassured you.

“It’s fine, we stopped the Mind Flayer, El is safe. Hopper - we lost Hopper. He was in the way when the Gate closed. Dustin says he was probably incinerated by the energy released by the shut-down of the thing that made the energy. Or something like that.” The news was sad, but you hadn’t known the Chief of Police well enough to fell properly agrieved at this. There was, however, one person that was definitely broken because of the news.

“How’d El take it? Is she alright?” El had, in the short time you had known her, become important to you. Although you had known next to nothing about this world in Hawkins before, well, whenever you learned, you found yourself caring about her. Then, a thought struck you. 

“Max, how long have I been out?” This question hung in the air for a few moments, but Max answered without too much real thought put into the answer.

“You’ve been out for, like, three days! For the first day, you kept murmuring about something digging into your hand, so we took it out. The second and third day, you were constantly waking up, only to fall asleep again. Oh! You were also singing some sappy song about love or protection or broken hearts or whatever. And now, well, here you are!” You could remember, looking back now, that something had, in fact, been digging into the palm of your hand. Then, you noticed that Max still hadn’t revealed anything about El, or how she was taking the Chief’s death.

“El?” You prompted.

“Oh! Sorry about that. El is doing okay, for the most part. I mean, yeah, she’s sad. Yeah, her world’s kind of upside-down - no pun intended - right now. I think she’s coping well, though. She’s been asking about you, actually. Wondering how you are after, y’know, everything.”

“I’m fine - wait, what do you mean everything?” The happy mood that had infiltrated the room was now gone, whizzing past the two figures and draining through the cracks in the doors and windows. A sudden chill filled the room, and Max’s face visibly fell. She fiddled with her hands, twiddling her thumbs. Something grasped in her hands caught the light, and glinted. This caused you to ask the one question you didn’t want to know the answer to.

“What - what happened to Billy? Did he get out?”

Max raised her hands, and you could only wonder what she was going to give you as she beckoned for you to give her your hand, palm up. You complied, and she dropped the glinting object into your hand. Looking at it, it took a hot second for you to see that it was a ring. Not understanding why Max dropped it in your hand, you made to ask her. 

“Shhh. Listen.” So you did.

“We ran away from Billy, and you stayed behind doing, well, whatever you were doing. That much you know,” you nodded, smiling slightly. Max had a way of saying things a certain way that made you smile, and it was endearing. 

“Well, we found a room while you were with him. It was one of those back-rooms, y’know the ones that have stairs that lead to everywhere? But, the door to the staircase was locked. Mike was trying to open it, and I heard Billy coming. El was terrified, and so was I, but I had to stop him. Long story short, I didn’t. I couldn’t. Mike stopped him. Not for long, though. He took El, and when we woke up, they were both gone through the now-open staircase.”

“Woke up?” 

“Oh yeah, Billy knocked us out. Sorry. But anyway, so we run up the stairs. We get to the Food Court inside the mall, and the Mind Flayer is there. Nancy, Jonathan, and them are throwing fireworks at the Mind Flayer. I can see Billy leaning over El, and he’s spasming uncontrollably because of the fireworks. Suddenly, one of the Flayers’ tentacle-things goes for El. I don’t know what’s happening between them, but all of a sudden, Billy stands up and grabs the tentacle. Then more and more tentacles start shooting out, and he, and they…” You didn’t need to hear the rest to know what had transpired within the mall. 

Max had silent tears streaming down her face, and you touched your cheek only to realize that you too were crying. Billy was gone, and all you had left were some childish memories. You motioned for Max to come over to you, and you embraced her as well as you could. You looked back at your hands, which were currently wrapped around Max’s back. The ring sat in the palm of one hand, and upon closer inspection, there was some writing on the finger-side of it. You brought the ring closer to your face, and read the two words inscribed there. 

‘D’you Promise?’

You did, fuck, you did. You could almost hear Billy’s voice, still laden with sleep, asking you after a night of revelries. You could almost hear his voice, when he was drunk and you were mad, asking you flirtatiously. You could almost hear the heartbreak when he asked you, sneaking in through your window covered in bruises, needing reassurance. And, try as you might to forget it, the icy calm of his voice when he was first possessed by the Mind Flayer. When you bumped into him and made you question whether you meant anything at all to him. 

It hurt. You wanted to remember him, by the best of him, but there had been too much bad. You knew that most of it had been the influence of the Flayer, at least recently, but it was still him, somehow. And what about those times, early in the relationship, when he slept with others. Those times he wasn’t under the influence of the Mind Flayer, but was driven by, arguably, a much more horrifying and motivational force. 

His father. 

Billy’s father made him feel so insecure sometimes, that your heart broke just as it was doing now. His father was a great force that stood behind all of Billy’s pain and sensitivity about himself, and his father played a major part in Billy’s and your decision to leave Hawkins. Together. Both of you were going to run, to California. To where Billy could be free, and happy. To where you could make a life with him. To where you could have made a life with him. 

Slipping the promise ring on your ring finger, you looked down at Max and silently pledged to Billy that you would look after her. You knew that although he teased her, shouted at her, used to reflect his father when confronting her, he still loved her. You would look after Max, and see to it that she stayed safe. 

“I promise, Billy.”


End file.
